Door and seat lock mechanism for automobiles.



No. 776,015. PATENTED NOV. 29; 1904. E. L. EGBRMAYBR. DOOR AND QEAT LOOK MECHANISM FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30. 1904.

N0 MODEL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED' NOV. 29, 1904.

E. L. EGERMAYER. I DOOR AND SEAT LOCK MECHANISM FOR AUTOMOBILES APPLIGATION' FILED SEPT. 30. 1904.

2 SHEETS-BHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented November 21-3, 180%..

PATENT @FiucE.

ElH V'Altl) L. EHERMAYEH, ()F PISEK, NOli'lTl-l DAKOTA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 776,015, dated November 29, 1904:.

Application filed September 30, 1904. $eria11l0. 226,675. No model.)

To (LZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD L. EGERMAYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pisek, in the county of Walsh and State of North Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door and Seat Lock Mechanism for Automobiles; and I do hereby declare the following bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to automobiles,and has for its especial object to provide improved mechanism for operating the door-locks and drop-seats thereof.

To the above ends the invention consists of I the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter describechand defined in the claims. As is well known, automobile-bodies of the tonneau type are usually provided with doors at the rear, and the rear seat is provided with a hinged or drop section. Latches or locks are provided both for the door and for the drop seat sections; but hitherto these two looks or latches have had no operative connection, but have required to be independently actuated.

In accordance with my invention I provide latch or lock mechanisms for the door and for the seat which are so connected and related that the act of releasing the door latch or lock will release the seat latch or look and drop the seat in the one instance and permit the seat to be returned to an operative position in the other instance. I consider this arrangement broadly new and have in the accompanying drawings illustrated one of the various forms which the improved mechanism may take.

in the accompanying drawings like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a perspective View showing the rear portion of an automobile-body having a tonneau applied thereto, some partsbeing broken away. Fig. 2 is a view corresponding to Fig. 1, but with the tonneau and other body portions of the vehicle indicated only by dotted lines and with the lock mechanism shown in full. Fig. 3 is a plan view ofthe rear portion of the tonneau, parts being broken away to more clearly show the lock mechanism. Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 3, some parts being broken away.

The numeral 1 indicates the main body portion, and the numeral 2 the tonneau attachment, of an automobile of standard construction. The tonneau 2 is provided with the usual centrally-located rear door 3, which is hinged thereto at 4:. The rear seat 5, in line with the door 3, is provided with a drop-section 6, which seat-section, as shown, is rigidly secured to a metallic frame 7 which in turn is rigidly attached, as shown, by set-screws 8 to a rock-shaft 9, mounted in suitable bearings 10 on the bottom of the left-hand section of the seat 5. The rear end of this shaft 9 projects through the rear portion of the tonneau and is provided with a handpiece 11, by means of which the shaft 9 may be rocked to raise the seat-section 6 into an operative horizontal section.

Set into the free edge of the door 3 is a skeleton-like metal guide 12. A lock-bolt 13 extends vertically through and is mounted to move laterally in slots 12 of the frame 12, and the ends 13 of said bolt 13 are turned horizontally toward the left and are passed through perforations in the upper and lower extremities of said frame 12. The end portions 13 constitute the lock-bolts proper, and when the door is closed they are adapted to be projected through perforations of latchplates 14, that are set into and rigidly securd in the adjacent rear wall of the tonneau, as best shown in Figs.3 and 1. The lock-bolt 13 is yieldingly pressed toward the left with respect to Figs. 3 and 1, as shown, by coiled spring 15, placed around pins 16, which project from the bolt 13'and work loosely through a vertical bar of the frame 12. An operating-stem 17, having a head or linger piece at its outer end, isv secured to the lock-bolt 13 and projects outward through a slot 3 of the door 3. A trip-rod 18, which, as shown, has two rectangular bends, is rigidly secured at one end to the lock-bolt 13, works loosely through a portion of the inset frame 12, and terminates at its other end near the hinged edge of the door and below the drop-seat 6 for an important 'pur pose, which will presently appear.

The numeral 19 indicates a metallic guide frame or support which is rigidly secured by bolts or other devices (not shown) to the bottom of the right-hand section of the seat 5; A rod 20 extends horizontally and longitudinally of the machine through slots 19, formed in the prongs or sides of the bearingframe 19, and to this rod is rigidly secured a sliding latch-plate 21, which when forced toward the left underlies the free edge of the drop-seat 6 and looks or latches the same in operative position. Said latch-plate 21 is yieldingly pressed toward the left and into an operative position, as shown, by coiled springs 22, placed around pins 23, secured to the bar 20 and working loosely through the rear bar of the frame 19. The rear end of the rod 20 extends into a suitable clearance-passage formed in the right-hand rear portion of the tonneau and is bent laterally toward the left at 20 and terminates in axial alinement with the lower extremity 18 of the trip-rod 18, which, as before noted, is carried by the lock-bolt 13.

l/Vith this construction, as is evident, the door will be unlocked by taking hold of the finger-piece 17 and forcing the lock-bolt 13 toward the right far enough to disengage its ends 13 from the latch-plates 14:. It is also evident that under the movement of the bolt 13 toward the right the trip-finger 18 will be given a corresponding movement in the same direction and that when so moved its lower end portion 18 will press against the end portion 20 of the seat-lock or latch-bar 20 and will force the latch-plate 21 into an inoperative position toward the right, thereby releasing and dropping the seat 6. Hence, as is evident, the door may be unlocked and the drop-seat 6 released and dropped by a single operation and by the use of but one hand. It is of course evident that the door maybe swung open and closed by the hand applied to the finger-piece 17, which serves as a door-knob.

- The manner of latching or locking the door by the mechanism described is obvious. hen the door is closed and it is desired to raise and latch the drop-seat 6 in an operative position, the finger-piece or knob 17 should be forced toward the right, so as to force the latch-plate 21 into an inoperative position, and while this is done the said seat 6 may be freely hand applied to the handpiece 11 of the rockshaft 9 or directly to the seat-section of the seat itself.

The mechanism described is of small cost, maybe easily applied to any automobile, is invisible when applied, and will save a great deal of time in the manipulations of the door and drop-seat.

From what has been said it will of course be understood that the mechanism described is capable of a large range of modifications within the scope of my invention as herein set forth and claimed.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

1. The combination with a vehicle-body having a swinging door and a hinged seat-section, of a lock for said door and a lock for said seat, and connections whereby the releasing movement of said door-lock will operate said seat-lock and release said seat-section, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a vehicle-body having a hinged door and a hinged seatsec tion, and which seat-section has a rock-shaft extended to the exterior of the vehicle-body and provided with a handpiece, of a lock for said door and a look for said seat-section. and connections whereby the releasing movement of said door-lock will actuate said seat-lock and release said seat-section, substantially as 7 described.

3. The combination with a vehiclebody having a hinged door and a hinged seat-section, said seat-section having a rock-shaft extended to the exterior of the vehicle-body and provided with a hand piece, of a door-lock comprising a spring-pressed bolt 13, having the locking extremities 13, engageable with seats in the adjacent edge of the back of the vehicle-body, a finger-piece on said bolt projecting at the rear of the machine, a trip-rod 18 carried by said bolt, and a lock for said seat comprising the spring-pressed lock-plate 21, mounted on one of the fixed seat-sections, and provided with the projecting rod 20, the extremity of which is adapted to be engaged by said trip-rod 18, whereby said seat-lock may be released when the said door-lock is released, substantially as described.

in testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDNARD L. EGERMAYER.

Vitnesses:

H. A. LIBBY, CLINTON A. DAVIS. 

